Playlist

I used to hate Spotify. The constant backlash of it from my favorite artists and its limited selection of underground, DIY artists always turned me off from using the service, so the first time I ever did one of these was torturous, with Spotify recommending me one awful acoustic coffee shop track after another. I told myself I would never use it again.

Then my hard drive crashed from having too much music on it.

Now I am an avid Spotify user, using it to get into all sorts of bands and listening to every new record that comes out because I now finally have the access to it. Since I now use it daily, I was confident that my Discover Weekly playlist was going to give me plenty of great tunes, and boy was I right.

This track starts off strong, with calming synths that sounds straight out of a 90s computer game and a melody that sounds like a beachy LCD Soundsystem song. It’s not exactly my cup of tea, but it’s very fun and theatrical, and I’d definitely recommend it to others.

I knew about Half Waif’s work in the past, but never gave it a good chance in the past, so I was excited to listen this song. I thought it was great, with its pleasant, spot-on vocal harmonies and its delicate yet in-your-face beat. Half Waif is someone I’m definitely checking out in the future.

Gents is a duo from Denmark, which makes a lot of sense from the very beginning of the track because the singer’s accent is really thick. It reminded me a lot of the newest Porches album with the track’s synthetic drumbeats and the very thick synths, with a slick bass line and a familiar vocal delivery following it. The chorus isn’t my favorite thing in the world, since the mixing at that part isn’t the best, but it’s still really fun.

I remember this track ending up on the last Discover the Lobster, with Cailynn calling it repetitive and dubstep-like, which wasn’t her thing. For me, this is exactly what I needed, as it was the best track on this entire playlist. I absolutely loved the insane atmosphere of the track, it brought me into another world and the sampling and production were genius. I’ve been a fan of Iglooghost’s work in the past, so really there’s no surprise that I loved it as much as I did.

I’ve given Raury a lot of chances in the past and each time he’s done nothing for me. I think he’s talented, but I’d just rather listen to someone else. “NEVERALONE” is a good example of this, as it sounded pretty good as a track but still felt really bland and easily forgettable.

The guitar that introduces this song sound a lot like the twang Mac DeMarco is known for. It suddenly meets the vocals, which are hard to hear but sound really good with the guitar and make for a really nice pair. It’s very calming and makes for a pleasant track.

I knew about Anna Wise because of her several fantastic contributions on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, so I was looking forward to hearing this track. It’s very catchy and poppy, but lacks a certain punch that I heard in her TPAB features. Nevertheless, she’s still someone I’ll check out in the future.

I really, really dug this track. This guy’s voice sounds like a cross between The Weeknd and Pinky from Pinky and the Brain, and, for some strange reason, I’m really into it. The instrumentals are super spacey and the lyrics about his life are really interesting.

This song starts off with loud, slamming guitars, feeling like a Nothing track. Then suddenly, everything quiets down and introduces the singer with a really pleasant melody, then goes back into insanity with plenty of screaming and loudness for everyone. It’s really beautiful. Listen to this when you’re really angry, it’ll take it all out for you.

You can only really describe this song in one word: “Banger.” It begins like your average rave-EDM track, with the typical epic synth intro and drum buildup, but surprises you with a drop reminiscent of a cross between TNGHT and anyone on PC Music.

Spotify is something that has made recreational music listening a lot easier in the last couple of years, and though some like myself might argue that it takes away from the romance of a physical copy, there are definitely a lot of pros.

One of these pros is the Discover Weekly Playlist that Spotify offers. It takes what you’ve been listening to all week, and every Sunday it generates a playlist of roughly thirty songs that it thinks that the listener might enjoy. These can either be very on the mark, or massively off. This week, my Discover Weekly playlist hit the nail on the head, here are the ten biggest winners.

1. The World At Large – Modest Mouse: It’s no secret that the weather has been pretty crummy lately, but in between the snow and the rain, the slush and Soviet Russia colored sky, there have been days of sunshine, and there is no better song to enter the warm weather with. The World At Large is one of Modest Mouse’s warmer songs, and it fits perfectly with spring on the horizon.

2. Plane vs. Tank vs. Submarine – Tigers Jaw: Being the first Tigers Jaw song I ever heard, it’s always nice to hear this one when it’s unexpected. I dare anyone who knows it not to sing a little off key to the opening lines of this gem.

3. Maps – The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: The Guitar Hero essential, and most popular song to come out of the 90’s group. It’s hard to feel anything but pop bliss than life when this song comes on with the massive drums and tremolo picking. “Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.”

4. The Tide – The Spill Canvas: This is one of the most miserably whiny songs I’ve ever heard in my life, and it’s one of the very few of the caliber that I enjoy. I’m not even sure that I enjoy it, but I know all the words and sing all of them, so that must count for something. A band often forgotten about, The Spill Canvas never seemed to get the credit they deserved.

5. Two Beers In – Free Throw: Half punk, half twinkle from one of this generation’s best emo bands. A song about the heartache that’s only numbed by drinking beers with your friends, when it’s clear, “This already feels like a night to forget.”

6. Freakish – Saves The Day: Saves The Day has influenced 90% of the bands making music today, and yet it seems like no one talks about them, but when they released Stay What You Are in 2001, it was quite a different story. This is the track that splits the record in half, soft and aching, without ever feeling too sad. “Well here I am, don’t know how to say this, the only thing I know is awkward silence.”

7. Eleven To Your Seven – Hey Mercedes: Taken from the brilliant record Everynight Fireworks, this Hey Mercedes track is one of their most memorable. Hey Mercedes were a Braid side project that some actually wound up liking better than Braid (myself included). With sad lyrics, bouncy vocals and a blistering guitar riff that would later be emulated by “Check Yes Juliet”, this song has it all.

8. White Blank Page – Mumford & Sons: Though most don’t like to admit it, there’s something extremely charming about Mumford & Sons, whether it be the old timey feel, the pop sensibility or just the way they dress. Something works, and on their 2009 record, Sigh No More, they hit a home run with White Blank Page.

9. Walking – Adventures: Adventures are an indie rock band, in the least traditional sense of the term. It is the side project of members of Code Orange, using their pop sensibilities. They’re signed to Run For Cover and put out their debut full length last year. But they started with a sling of EP’s, this being one, and this track kills.

10. Syracuse – Pinback: Pinback are a California bay-band that a lot of younger kids found out about when The Story So Far covered their “Loro” on a split with Stick To Your Guns. It was a good cover, but regardless, Pinback is a killer band, and this a killer song to end my Spotify playlist on.